Okay okay, I entirely fail! Apparently people actually read this blog and want to know what’s going on, so I should probably update it more often. As I have become more retrospective over the past couple weeks, I haven’t taken as many pictures. I do want to share, however, the beauty that’s here. Here we go:

So this is the view from the rooftop of the first place I stayed… Absolutely gorgeous with the sunset. Continue reading →

Lately I’ve been struck by the wildlife that I see here in just my small radius of living in India. I don’t have a car or a scooter – a popular form of transportation here – so walking is my only means of getting around. Given this, I was shocked when the other day I almost ran into a troop of…

Alright, this post is a bit delayed (as in, 3 days delayed) but it’s better than nothing, right?!

This past Saturday, my teacher from back in the States brought 4 of us yoga students to Srirangapatna to see the Raganathaswami Temple. I, for one, had never seen anything like it, and was very grateful to have such a cultural experience! Inside was a stucco image of the Hindu god Raganatha, or Vishnu (it’s one of Vishnu’s temples), among many others and were so ornate and beautifully made and decorated. There was also a little baby who was brought, naked, to sit on the main image of Vishnu… It kind of looked like a baby baptism does for Christians. It was so cute! It made me smile. 🙂

In an endeavor to get away for a bit and focus on myself, I find myself halfway across the world in a country I’ve never been to. The sights, the sounds, the smells… they’re all so different from what I experience daily in the States. I originally wasn’t planning on blogging here, but I wanted to share some of the beauty of this country.

Many people will tell you that Paris is their favorite city to visit. It’s splendor and magnificence are evidenced in the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Champs-Élysées as well as the incredible artwork, language, and pastries. And while all this is true, I’ve found Paris’ appeal to not come from the obvious, touristy attractions, but rather from the quaint, beautiful, everyday aspects of the city.

These lyrics from “Feeling Good” (sung by many such as Michael Bublé, Nina Simone, and Muse, among others) pretty accurately sum up my life right now. And I love sunrise pictures for the exact reason that’s described by these specific lyrics: it’s a new dawn. Which then means it’s a new day. Which is a time for starting over.

It’s about time. In light of the London Summer Olympic Games, I just had to do this. It’s been on my mind unlike anything else these past few weeks. I tried to hide it at first – there’s a lot of pressure to write as an Olympian, to write as a “known” person (though I hardly consider myself “known” by any means) – but I’ve decided to succumb and write a bit about my Olympic experience. Continue reading →

Yesterday, at about 10:30 in the morning, my mom suddenly yells from our vegetable garden, “Come! Come quick! Hurry!” To which we all sprint out of the house assuming the worst, thinking something terrible had happened. Katie, my sister, made it outside before me and yelled back, “Get your camera!” What in the world was going on? And why would I need my camera for it?! Continue reading →

I’ve found through my life that the most calm times of the day are right as the sun’s rays are breaking above the horizon and just as the hues of the light are changing from yellow to orange to red to dark. In other words, dawn and dusk.